1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a charged particle beam apparatus and to an article manufacturing method using the apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A rendering apparatus (charged particle beam apparatus) is known that executes rendering on a substrate by controlling blanking and deflection/scanning of a charged particle beam such as an electron beam or the like. The rendering apparatus can be adopted in relation to one pattern formation technique in substitution for a light exposure method for the production or the like of a memory device of 4GDRAM or later that has a line width of 0.1 μm. In this type of rendering apparatus, an electrostatic lens that includes a plurality of electrode layers, and spacers formed from an insulating body that are disposed between the electrodes is used as an electron lens for focusing the electron beam. The electrostatic lens is disposed in the lens barrel that can maintain a constant vacuum state. However, when the internal portion of the lens barrel becomes during exposure to atmosphere (vent) or during evacuation, the insulating body configuring the spacer may become charged and thereby may result in a residual electric potential. For example, the charge on the insulating body during evacuation may have an effect such as causing a curvature in the orbit of the electron beam during rendering processing. Furthermore the electrostatic component of the charge on the insulating body during exposure to atmosphere may attract and cause attachment of particles to the surface of the insulating body. The charge on the insulating body and the charge on the particles both have the potential to cause an effect on the orbit of the electron beam. In order to suppress this type of effect of the charge, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-55166 discloses a charged particle beam exposure apparatus that includes a shield electrode configured to suppress the charge on the insulating spacer. Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-155367 discloses a vacuum forming apparatus that includes an ionizer (ion supplying unit) that functions as a apparatus to remove electrostatic electricity that is produced during evacuation in the chamber.
However, incorporation of the shield electrode disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-55166 into the electron lens is associated with difficulties resulting from the miniaturization of the pattern to be rendered. Furthermore, even when this type of shield electrode is provided, the charge itself is not eliminated. The ionizer in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-155367 has a disadvantage in relation to the efficiency of charge neutralization since the ions are inhibited from reaching the insulating spacer from the minute aperture of the electron lens.